Venetian blind



Dec. 1938. D. J AJOUELO 2,141,502

VENE'IIAN BLTND Filed June 27, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 27, 1938. AJOUELO 2,141,502

VENET IAN BLIND Filed June 2'7, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented 21, 1938 UNITED STATES VENETIAN BLIND Davis J. Monelo, Atlanta, Ga., assignor to Armand May, Atlanta, Ga.

Application June 27, 1938, Serial No. 216,131

8 Claims. (Cl. 156-17) This invention relates to improvements in Venetian blinds, the primary object of the invention being to provide a blind of comparatively simple construction, but which is capable of r, emcient operation.

A further object is to provide a Venetian blind construction comprising a tilt rail, which functions also as the head rail, and supporting brackets therefor, so coordinated, so to speak, that a In standard size tilt rail may be installed in windows of different widths.

More specifically, the invention contemplates the provision of tilt-rail-supporting brackets, in which the tilt rail is supported in portions of the 13 bracket spaced from the window casing, this space between the rail-supporting portion of the bracket and the window casing affording clearance for axial adjustment of the tilt rail in compensating for windows of different widths. In

this connection, the gear mounted on the tilt rail for imparting a rocking motion thereto is also adjustable axially of the rail in order to facilitate installation of the rails in windows of different widths.

5 Another object of the present invention is the provision of a combined tilt and head rail in which the trunnions of the rail may be readily incorporated.

The tilt rail is of substantially channel-shaped n cross-section, preferably being made of metal with resilient side walls, so that the resiliency of said side walls may be utilized for frictionally retaining one or both of the trunnion members in the rail. With the tilt rail'of such cross-sec- 33 tion, the guide rollers for the pull cords of the blind are journaled within the rail and a further object of the invention is to provide said rail with oppositely disposed lateral projections or extensions to which the tapes in which the slats are secured may be readily attached to the tilt rail by using an ordinary pin. These lateral extensions are also utilized for attaching to the tilt rail a member, such as one of the slats used in the blind, so that said slat will constitute a closure for the otherwise open side of the rail.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, all as will hereinafter be more fully described, and the novel features thereof particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention- Figure 1 is a front elevational view, partly in section and partly broken away, of a Venetian blind embodying the present improvements, the tilt rail being shown in tilted position, so that the slats appear opened;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a similar view on the line 4-4 of Fig.

Fig. 5 is a like view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 isa transverse view on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 1-1 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of an end portion of the combined head and tilt rail; and

Fig. 8 is a similar view showing the detachable end portion of the rail on which the operating gear is carried.

In accordance with general practice, the present blind is provided at one side with cords ill for actuating what is termed the tilting mechanism and, at the other side, with the pull cords H, by means of which the tapes l2, in'which the slats I3 and bottom rail M are carried, may be raised and lowered, together with said slats and bottom rail, for raising or lowering the entire set of slats any desired distance. The tilt cords I0 extend over pulley I5 on a shaft I6, carrying a worm H,

which engages with a worm gear l8 mounted on the end portion of the combined head and tilt rail I9. Thus, by manipulating one or the other of cords I0 to rotate gear 15 in the desired direction, the tilt rail I!) can be rocked so as to raise or lower the tapes i2 which, in turn, will cause I all of the slats, when lowered, to be likewise tilted and thus open the slats, as shown in Fig. 1. In the case of the pull cords H for raising and lowering the slats and bottom rail, said cords extend through a locking device, to be presently described, and thence over guide rollers 20 journaled in the top rail, from which points they extend downwardly and are secured at 2| to the bottom rail It.

In order to simplify the construction of the a blind and, particularly, the combined top and tilt rail, so that the same may be readily made of stock material while, at the same time, rails of a so-called standard dimension can be adjusted lengthwise to compensate for variances in the l widths of different windows, said rail, in the present instance, is made substantially channel shaped in cross-section, as more clearly illustrated in Fig. 8. Preferably, a metal channel member is utilized, the material selected atthe present time being a stock material that may be bought in any desired lengths at comparatively low prices. In order to permit this top rail to be adjusted so far as its length is concerned, and thus compensate for windows of diflerent widths, said rail is rotatably supported in supporting brackets which will provide clearances necessary to permit longitudinal adjustment of the top rail. For instance, each end of the rail is mounted in a bracket of U-shaped cross-section, one leg of the bracket being secured to the window casing, while the other leg of each bracket, indicated at 22, is positioned in spaced 'relation to the window casing, this space between the two legs of each bracket permitting the ends of the brackets to be readily adjusted in their supports. In connection with the adjustability of the tilt rail, the trunnion portion 23 of said rail, which carries the gear I8, is provided with a plate-like extension 24 adapted to telescope in the channel portion of the rail, as indicated in dotted lines in conjunction with Figs. 8, 8*, and the trunnion portion is provided with a slot 25, in which the screw 26 for securing gear 18 thereon may be adjusted longitudinally of the trunnion. Preferably, the plate-like extension 24 of this trunnion member is frictionally held in the channel portion 19 of the top rail, so that adjustment may be made either by altering the position of extension 24 longitudinally of the rail, or by releasing the connecting pin 26 and adjusting the gear itself axially of the trunnion 23. By thus altering the over-all length of the tilt rail, what may be termed a standard size tilt rail can be used in conjunction with window openings of different widths. The end of the tilt rail opposite gear I8 is preferably also provided with a trunnion portion 23 and the trunnions at the two ends of the rails are received in recesses 40 in the inner legs 22 of the brackets. If desired, the bracket at the gear end of the rail may have a latch 41 pivoted thereon to insure positive engagement between the gear l8 and worm l1.

To facilitate attachment of the tapes 12 to the tilt rail and their removal therefrom, if the same should be desired, and to also provide means for giving the tilt rail the appearance of merely another slat in the blind, said rail is provided with oppositely disposed extensions 21 of plate-like formation, projecting laterally outwardly from the side walls thereof. If desired, the two extensions at the opposite sides of the tilt rail may be made integral in the form of a substantially U- shaped member, with the base portion 28 of said member encirclingthe three sides of the tilt rail, as illustrated in Fig. 8. These lateral extensions are formed with slots 29 through each of which is threaded one end of a tape and the end portion folded back upon itself so that the folded-over portions may be secured together by an ordinary pin, indicated at 30. It will be appreciated that this is practically the most simplified form of attaching means for the tapes, in that the end of the tape need only be threaded through the slot 29 and pinned in installing the blind while, on the other hand, if, for any reason, it should be desired to remove the tapes, it is only necessary to withdraw the pins 30. These extensions 21 are also provided with screw holes 31 adapted to receive screws 32 (Fig. l), by which a closure 33 for the open side of the tilt rail is secured to said extensions. Preferably, this closure member 33 is a duplicate, so far as appearance is concerned, of the slats used in the blind. It is for this reason that the extensions 21 are provided, in

that they aflord an extended or enlarged surface laterally of-the tilt rail, for properly supporting a comparatively wide closure member or a member of the same width as the ordinary slat.

The locking means previously referred to in connection with the pull cords II are housed, so to speak, in one of the supporting brackets for the tilt rail. mechanism is housed in the bracket at the lefthand end of the tilt rail, while the cord-locking means are housed in the bracket at the righthand end. A difllculty frequently experienced in installation and dismounting of Venetian blinds is the assembly of the slat pull cords in the locking means or devices that are necessarily present for the purpose of releasably holding the slats at the desired elevation. However, in the present construction, this difllculty is eliminated by the provision of an opening in the locking device assembly by means of which the pull cords may be withdrawn or inserted laterally, as distinguished from an endwise movement such as is used in threading the cords through the locking mechanism. For instance, the supporting bracket is formed with vertically spaced plate-like members 34, 35 (Figs. 5 to 7) which may, in a sense. be said to serve as guide members. The upper plate 34 is divided to form a slot 36, and journaled between the plates at one side of said slot is a guide roller 31, while loosely positioned between the guide plates at the other side of said slot there is a roller 33, capable of floating, so to speak, in the passage between the two plates so as to move freely toward and from the guide roller 31. This floating roller 33 is preferably knurled or serrated on its periphery so that, when moved toward the guide roller, it will ultimately pinch and hold the cords I I and thus prevent further movement of the cords through the passage formed between plates 34, 35. Referring, particularly, to Fig. 6, it will be understood that the tendency of the cords II is to move toward the left, due to the weight of the bottom bar l4 and slats l3 supported by the ends of the cords. It will also be understood that the cords are normally positioned where they will engage against the surface of the locking roller 33 so that, upon any tendency of the cords to move to the left, the frictional engagement between said cords and the locking roller will cause said roller to move to the position indicated in Fig. 2, so that the cords will be gripped between said floating roller and the fixed guide roller 31. On the other hand, assuming it is desired to further lower the slats, it is only necessary to manually move the cords laterally to disengage them from the locking roller, whereupon the latter will move away from the guide roller 31 and release the cords, this retractive movement of the floating roller being effected by gravity due to the inclination of the plates 34, 35, in which the roller is housed. Escape or accidental displacement of the floating locking roller 38 is prevented by a retaining finger 33 which may be formed integrally with the upper and lower plates 34, 35, as indicated in Fig. 6. This retaining finger also serves the purpose of maintaining the two lengths of pull cord separate or spaced from one another vertically, one length of the cord being normally positioned on top of the finger, while the other is below the finger, so that snarling of the two lengths is prevented. However, in order to permit the pull cords to be readily assembled with the locking mechanism just described, said retaining finger is of less length than the width of the passage As viewed in Fig. 1, the tilting a,141,soa

between plates 84, 85, in which the rollers 8|, ll, are located. As shown in Figs. and 6, the finger projects from a point at one side of the entrance of this passage a plane medially of the upper and lower plateigffl, 35, with its free extremity terminating short of the opposite side of said passage. Thus, the pull cord which is normally positioned below the finger may be disengaged therefrom by passing it upwardly and around the free extremity of the finger and, after this has been done, both cords may then be moved laterally, upwardly, through the slot 38 in the upper plate 34. Likewise, in assembling the pull cords in the locking mechanism, that cord which be threaded endwise through the locking mechanism.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the present combined head and tilt rail can be produced at a low cost figure, due to the fact that the major portion thereof is formed of stock material and, of course, the trunnion end P rtions can be easily assembled with the channel-shaped member constituting the major portion of the bar. Again, the bar has a pleasing appearance, in that the design of the closure member merely duplie cates that of the slats used in the blind proper. Aside from the simplicity of the construction, the feature of adjustability is important and, in this connection, attention is again directed to the arrangement of having the ends of the tilt rail rotatably supported in members that are spaced from the side walls of the window opening a distance such as will afford ample clearance to permit elongation of the tilt rail without, in any wise, eifecting the functioning of the brackets proper.

To add to the appearance of the present fixture, a front cover plate 42 may be secured to the brackets, the inwardly turned end portions I of said plate being inserted along the inner surfaces of the brackets and slotted to engage retaining pins 44.

What I claim is:

i. In a Venetian blind, the combination of a tilt rail and means for supporting the same between the sides of a window casing comprising U- shaped brackets at the sides of said casing with one leg of each bracket spaced inwardly of the casing, said inwardly spaced legs having journals in which the ends of said rail are removably supported, and means located between the legs of one of said brackets'for imparting a rotary motion to said rail.

2.- In a Venetian blind, a combined head rail and tilt rail, a bracket for supporting each end of said rail, means for securing said brackets to a window casing, each bracket having a portion spaced inwardly from the side of said casing and in which said rail is rotatably supported, and means comprising a gear for rocking said rail, said gear being adjustable longitudinally of the rail.

3. In a Venetian blind, a tilt rail, a U-shaped bracket for supporting each end of said rail, means for attaching one leg of each bracket to a window casing, the other leg of each bracket having an opening therein in which the ends of the rail are rotatably secured with the ends of the rail extending into the spaces defined by the legs of each bracket with sufllcient clearance for permitting axial adjustment of the rail in the brackets, and means for rocking said rail.

4. In a Venetian blind, a tilt rail, a U-shaped bracket for supporting each end of said rail, means for attaching one leg of each bracket to a window casing, the other leg of each bracket having an opening therein in which the ends of the rail are rotataby secured with the ends of the rail extending into the spaces defined by the legs of each bracket with sufilcient clearance for permitting axial adjustment of the rail in the brackets, a gear on one end of said rail positioned between the legs of a bracket, means for adjusting said gear axially of the rail, and means for rotating said gear.

5. .In a Venetian blind, a tilt rail of substantially channel shape in cross-section, trunnions 6. In a Venetian blind, a tilt rail of substantially channel shape in cross-section, trunnions secured within the end portions of said channel. one of said trunnions being removably secured in said channel, a gear on said removable trunnion, and means for adjusting said gear axially of its trunnion.

7. In a Venetian blind, a tilt rail of substantially channel shape in cross-section, pull cord rollers rotatably mounted within said rail, longitudinally spaced lateral extensions projecting outwardly from opposite walls of said channel, means forsecuring tapes to said lateral extensions, and a slat secured to said extensions forming a closure for the open side of said channel.

8. In a Venetian blind, a tilt rail having substantially tubular end portions and trunnions secured in the hollow end portionsv of the rail,

one of said trunnions being retained in the rail by frictional engagement thereof with the walls of the rail.

DAVIS J. AJOUELO. 

